“To me, art was just natural, and the more and more I worked at it the more it became an integral part of my life and my identity.”
— Wyatt Little
Wyatt Little is a Texas-based product designer, who we had the chance to interview about his inspirations, how he got into design, and his advice for struggling artists. His work mixes urban objects with nature to create very conversational pieces for your home that we can't get enough of.
Analog: Your designs are so original and different from what we have seen, where do you get your inspiration from?
Wyatt: I feel like everything I end up making in some way ties back to my past. I often find myself thinking about objects I loved growing up and try to give them new life and context.
Analog: What made you decide to start creating art and how has it affected your life personally?
Wyatt: I grew up in a very creativity focused household. My dad was always at a drafting board and my mom did a lot of drawing and glasswork. To me, art was just natural, and the more and more I worked at it the more it became an integral part of my life and my identity.
Analog: I understand that you used to just focus on fine artwork, but now you have sort of turned into a product designer. How does this feel? How do you feel commercializing your work?
Wyatt: It’s actually the other way around. I went to school for product design and really enjoyed it for a while but eventually grew tired of all the branding and plastic junk the field tends to leave in its wake. It just left me wanting something with more substance. That’s why I turned to ceramics. In regards to commercialization, every single piece that ends up in someone's home was made by me. I don't really see that as commercializing my artwork---its just hard work.
Analog: Do you think that you create work now for a certain niche market or is it scattered across many different markets?
Wyatt: For now, I suppose I am in the unique gardening niche but I have no qualms with wandering into other markets.
Analog: We love how you combine urban ideas with nature inspired products. Why the decision to merge these two?
Analog: I think that I am mostly focused on creating contrasting ideas when I am ideating. I just really enjoy the idea of striking some sort of balance between two complete opposites.
Analog: Where does your inspiration or idea basis come from for your current collection?
Wyatt: A lot of my new stuff is very much in the same nostalgic vein that I normally pull from but lately I’ve been really influenced by simplistic geometry contrasted by fluid motion.
Analog: What’s on the horizon, can you give us any teasers?
Wyatt: Yes absolutely. I have been working on some fairly large-scale pieces combining glass and clay. I have also started making miniaturized versions of my current products.
Analog: What’s your favorite material to work with and why?
Wyatt: Definitely clay. Its cheap, accessible and easy for anyone to create whatever they want. It’s like the ultimate democratic material.
Analog: If you had to give one piece of advice to a struggling fine artist, what would it be?
Wyatt: Find something that gives you really quick validation to start off and then get into the bigger more time intensive stuff. Most importantly, enjoy the struggle.
If you would like to view Wyatt Little's work, Click here